In a down weekend in the box office, as many movie goers were waiting for Wednesday’s debut of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince rather than rushing out to see this weekend’s offerings, Sasha Baron Cohen’s Bruno scared up just enough business to beat out Ice Age 3. Bruno snagged $30.4 million, below expectations for a movie that is considered the spiritual successor to Borat; Ice Age 3 dished up $28.5 million in its second week of release.
Transformers stayed strong at the third spot with $24.2 million, while Public Enemies was a distant fourth with $14.1 million, and The Proposal rounded out the top five with $10.5 million, the only other movie to crack the $10.0 million barrier, though The Hangover came close in sixth place with $9.9 million. The only other major new movie this weekend hauled in a measly $5.0 million plus light fixtures, a sad debut for HEROES’ Hayden Panttierre in the romantic comedy, I LOVE YOU, BETH COOPER.
Despite being a solid summer weekend, it is clear business was down in anticipation of an absolutely huge Wednesday debut for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. It’s gonna be huge.
